Let's start with the notable absences. First up — Brienne of Tarth and Podrick.

HBO

In season six, Brienne and Podrick were sent to Riverrun in order to (hopefully) bring the Blackfish back north to help defeat the Boltons. Instead, they arrived to find the castle surrounded by Lannister and Frey forces.

Brienne and Pod managed to sneak away from the siege in a boat, and we last saw them drifting upriver as Jaime watched sadly.

So where are they? We were hoping for a glimpse of them back in Winterfell and at Sansa's side, but HBO is keeping their cards close with this trailer. Perhaps they're still in the Riverlands somewhere, or caught up in other trouble.

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UPDATE: Brienne was there all along! We missed this detail in our first go-around, but Brienne is safely in Winterfell with Jon and Sansa.

Another major absence is the Night King (or any White Walkers and wights, for that matter).

Helen Sloan/HBO

Since virtually every season seven promo has prominently featured the Night King, we were expecting to see him (or at least some of his White Walker henchman) in the trailer.

But there was not a single ice-creature to be found.

Where is the Night King? Will he cross the Wall this season? Will he catch up with Bran before he and Meera get to safety?

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Bran and Meera were also nowhere to be seen, and the season seven image HBO released of them made it look like they're still beyond the Wall.

Helen Sloan/HBO

Season six ended with both Bran and Meera still beyond the Wall, but close enough to see the gigantic structure. Bran touched a weirwood tree and was transported to a vision of Jon Snow's birth (and his mother Lyanna Stark's death).

We're anxious to see if Bran and Meera will safely make it to Castle Black and maybe even beyond to Winterfell for a good ol' fashioned Stark reunion — even though that could mean trouble for the Wall.

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HBO released a photo showing Sam and Gilly together, but they weren't in the trailer either.

Helen Sloan/HBO

It seems like they're both cozied up in Old Town, and Sam has even ditched the black clothing of the Night's Watch. But we're very curious as to what they'll get up to, especially once news reaches them that Jon was assassinated, then brought back to life, and then crowned King in the North.

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What did Littlefinger do to piss off Jon Snow?

The trailer shows Jon shoving Littlefinger up against a wall while they're both standing in the crypts of Winterfell, and in front of Lyanna Stark's tomb to boot!

The Mountain is looking badass in new Queensguard armor that mirrors Cersei's black and silver dress and crown. But can we just have Cleganebowl already?

To put it simply, the Cleganebowl fan theory posits that Gregor "The Mountain" Clegane will fight his younger brother, Sandor "The Hound" Clegane, to death in a battle of the ages.

Season six dashed hopes of this when Tommen banned trial by combat, but that did little to quell true believers. Seeing the Mountain in his new epic armor just has us even more hyped and (perhaps foolishly) hopeful that Cleganebowl could happen this season.

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But we didn't see the Hound in the trailer or his new companions, Thoros of Myr and Beric Dondarrion.

Helen Sloan/HBO

Based on the above season seven set photo, it looks like the Hound will be in a wintery setting. But where exactly is he? And who is he with? Will he ever see Arya again? Is he going to Winterfell to help Thoros and Beric aid in the great war against the Night King?

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Where is Arya headed? She still has names left on her kill list, but a few of them are in the north while others are south.

HBO

Cersei, The Mountain, Thoros, Beric, Melisandre — these are the names left on Arya's list, but will she kill them all? Based on the trailer, it looks like Arya is staying north. Will she head to Winterfell? Could she run into the Hound or Melisandre on her way?

The real reunion we're dying for is Arya and Nymeria — her direwolf that she forced away from her while traveling down the King's Road in season one. In the books, there are hints that Nymeria is leading a gigantic wolf pack through Westeros, and we hope the show will choose to bring Arya's direwolf back into the fold in an exciting way.

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Has Euron finished building a new fleet, and if so, is that who is attacking this ship?

The trailer seems to be showing Theon Greyjoy on a ship that's under serious attack, and our bet is that Euron has finally caught up with his nephew. It would make the most sense for Euron to team up with Cersei against Theon, Yara, and Daenerys — especially since we can't see Daenerys being too open to a marriage alliance with the scheming Iron Islander.

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How does one even attempt to fight a dragon on a battlefield?

We see Drogon and the Dothraki army clashing with Lannisters in the trailer, but what's unclear is just how competitive this battle will be. Drogon is absolutely enormous now, and in a field of grass can't he just let out a few big breaths of fire and effectively end the entire battle?

Is there some medieval contraption designed to combat dragons that we just don't know about? Or are the Lannisters totally toast?

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Last but not least, this looks like Jorah's arm covered in Greyscale. Is his flesh rotting off? Is it burnt? Is he about to have his arm amputated?

In the books it's implied that burning away the infected area or amputating it might cure Greyscale and keep victims alive. We think this shot from the trailer is Jorah putting his arm into a contraption that might slice it right off, but right now we can't be sure.

Either way, we're curious to know if Daenerys' mission for Jorah was pointless, and if not, it will be interesting to finally see the methods for curing Greyscale.